Spiritual Materialism revisited: Ram Dass on Trungpa Rinpoche

On the other hand, who of us is ever without a shadow? To me, what’s most crucial is that we recognize that part of our own being inevitably lies in darkness, is mostly unconscious — what Jung called “the shadow.” It’s our continuous task to both investigate this shadow and learn to integrate it, moment by moment. This internal dynamic, if we take it on consciously — recognizing that however much we plumb our own darkness, the bottom is always further down — inspires continuous evolution, deepens our compassion, and opens us to mystery.

Here’s Ram Dass on infamously “rascally” teacher Trumgpa Rinpoche, who founded Naropa University in Boulder Colorado and authored a book that many of us back in the ’70s paid close attention to: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism.